Hi, I've recently become very interested in Asatru after reading about it online. I've dabbled a bit in Wicca before but it never really seemed real to me, though it seems to work for a lot of people, and I've realized that I don't really want to do magic. I just want to live a spiritual life, and my birth religion doesn't fit me very well despite a lot of tries.

Some of the Asatru articles on the Pantheon website really struck home with me, particularly the article written by the young Wiccan who goes on a seidr guided visualization/spirit quest thing with some Asatruar and has an unexpectedly profound experience. It struck me that that's what I'm looking for, a coherent spiritual practice with deep roots (literally and figuratively). I like the emphasis on virtue and self-reliance, and the animistic worldview that doesn't make me feel like I'm pretending to be Native American.

I've read a lot on websites since that moment of clarity and I've picked up Diana Paxson's Essential Asatru and translations of the Havamal and Prose Edda. Not sure what to do next, although I've also started a notebook to keep track of everything with separate facing pages for Lore and UPG as it comes to me. And it's weird how suddenly I keep seeing images of Thor and Vikings and Runes everywhere.

I'd like to discuss issues in my reading and experience as they come up, but I'm not sure where. The forum software here is pretty creaky, and there isn't much discussion. I'd like to tap into an online community somehow.

Give them a couple of days. They are in the middle of a server change, and everything has gone kerfluey. I still can't tap into it. I am going to try again tomorrow. But it is a good site with good people, many of whom came from here.

Dark Energy. It can be found in the observable Universe. Found in ratios of 75% more than any other substance. Dark Energy. It can be found in religious extremists, in cheerleaders. To come to the conclusion that Dark signifies mean and malevolent would define 75% of the Universe as an evil force. Alternatively, to think that some cheerleaders don't have razors in their snatch is to be foolishly unarmed.

Well, since you liked Diana Paxson's Essential Asatru, I suppose the logical place to go would be the Troth. We are a world wide association of Universalist Asatru (meaning you don't need a gene test and Scandenavian language card to get in). Diana is the publisher of our magazine (Idunna), author of many of our better known books, and one of the heads of our clergy program.

Wicca is all about the magic. Asatru is all about living. It is a life way, a way of thinking, of judging your actions, and an acceptance of absolute personal responsibility for your choices. Asatru is acknowledging your connection to those that have gone before, and duties to those who are and yet to be. Asatru is not world rejecting, like Christianity or eastern mystic traditions, but world embracing and celebrating. Spirits share the world with us, our gods have given us duties and challenges in this world, and look to see our choices and the meeting of our duties in it. We do not look to other worlds for our gods, we listen for the voices of our gods, the guidance of our ancestors, and the whispers of the wights of spirits of the lands and waters that surround us.

In the end its not about navel gazing and inner peace, its about finding the sacral meaning in daily choices, and the connection to those who came before, and accepting their aid in building a future for those who depend on us.

Dark Energy. It can be found in the observable Universe. Found in ratios of 75% more than any other substance. Dark Energy. It can be found in religious extremists, in cheerleaders. To come to the conclusion that Dark signifies mean and malevolent would define 75% of the Universe as an evil force. Alternatively, to think that some cheerleaders don't have razors in their snatch is to be foolishly unarmed.

Some of the Asatru articles on the Pantheon website really struck home with me, particularly the article written by the young Wiccan who goes on a seidr guided visualization/spirit quest thing with some Asatruar and has an unexpectedly profound experience. It struck me that that's what I'm looking for, a coherent spiritual practice with deep roots (literally and figuratively). I like the emphasis on virtue and self-reliance, and the animistic worldview that doesn't make me feel like I'm pretending to be Native American.

I think I know the exact article you mean - I read and enjoyed it too! I quite like the Pantheon website myself, having only discovered it recently through reading columnist Stephen T Abell's "Letters From Midgard" on there, which I have in my bookmarks (apparently the guy is involved in the Troth too - he made me want to join up!) What you say in your final sentence here about the emphasis on self-reliance and animistic worldview in Heathenry describe also my exact reasons too for being drawn to in back in the 90's.

It's kind of cool to find something that fits my worldview without leaving out big pieces. It still takes a lot of getting used to.

:D

Dark Energy. It can be found in the observable Universe. Found in ratios of 75% more than any other substance. Dark Energy. It can be found in religious extremists, in cheerleaders. To come to the conclusion that Dark signifies mean and malevolent would define 75% of the Universe as an evil force. Alternatively, to think that some cheerleaders don't have razors in their snatch is to be foolishly unarmed.

Hi, I thought I'd update you on my experiences, I ended up joining the Troth and am now a hammer-wearing head-banging wight-fearing Heathen-American. It feels good to come home.

I thought it might be good to offer a couple links to some websites I've found really helpful on my path:

The Jotun's Bane Kindred at heathengods.com are a beacon of heathen good sense and lore in a sea of bad information. I found their chieftan's three books that are free to download as PDF's really helpful in making sense of everyday heathen life.

The asatrulore website is also pretty helpful, but not necessarily for beginners, it's pretty high-level scholarship and not terribly active.

Jordsvin's Norse Heathen Pages are also pretty good, and have more of that commonsense heathen wit that I look for.

And I have come to be very skeptical of anyone who starts a sentence with "Odin told me..."